Kensington Swan's view on aspects of the construction industry

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Monthly Archives: January 2017

In May last year we commented on this blog on the seemingly impossible suggestion of a wall along America’s southern border with Mexico, outlining the many obstacles to be overcome before the wall could even be considered as a remote possibility. However, President Trump has never let the seemingly impossible stop him and has moved…

For the first time in 12 years, the number of new homes consented to in Auckland exceeded 10,000 (as at November 2016). Over 1156 consents were issued in November alone, making it the strongest month for consents in more than 10 years. The Minister for Building and Construction, Hon Dr Nick Smith, highlighted the importance…

New Zealand is experiencing a well-publicised high level of demand for construction services at the moment. But is this increased demand compromising the quality of the homes we are producing? While we would hope not, Amanda Saxton suggests that building inspectors are telling a different story, and are said to be experiencing an increased volume…

Getting qualified workers is a struggle for many NZ construction companies. However, the construction industry is in part to blame for this problem as companies become reluctant to take on and train workers due to the boom-bust cycle of the industry (not wanting to be caught over-staffed). Also the current training model does not necessarily…